| rossi sets the pace
(ESP)-ROSSI SETS THE PACE Page 1/2
ROSSI SETS THE PACE
MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi continued to set the pace as he clocked the
fastest time on the final day of testing at Phillip Island today.
Rossi was once again joined by his Gauloises Yamaha team-mate Colin Edwards
across the Australian circuit and topped the times for the second successive day
as he lapped in one minute 30.44 seconds.
The weather had improved from the previous two days and was dry, with both
riders slightly bettering their times.
But Rossi still felt the rainfall had an affect on their final day's testing,
where the team focused on tyres and settings.
``Today the weather was better but the track conditions were still not very
good,'' the Italian said.
``The track has been so affected by all the rain before on the previous days
that it was still quite difficult and this is why we didn't improve the lap
times much.
``We were able to do some good work however, and continue working on the bike
settings and testing tyres for Michelin, so it was a worthwhile day.
``Now I'm really looking forward to moving on to Barcelona with everyone else
and continuing to develop the new bike as we move closer to the first race.''
Edwards notched-up a best lap time of 1min 30.50secs and the duo were joined
on the track once again by Fortuna Yamaha riders Toni Elias and Ruben Xaus.  |